Electrical outlet box



Feb. l, 1944. Y E, L sCQTT ELECTRICAL OUTLET Box Filed June 29, 1942 nventor r(lttofrleq Patented Feb. 1, 1944 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE ELECTRICAL OUTLET Box Eben L. Scott, Mission, Kans. application June se, 1942, serial No. 44ans (ci. 22o-3.6)

2 Claims.

This invention relates to electric 'wall outlet boxes and has for one of its objects to produce a type of box that can be quickly and conveniently inserted by an electrician or layman into position through an opening cut in a finished or unnished wall.

A further object vof the invention is to produce a construction incorporating an adjustable bracket or clamping member for engagement with the back of a wall in opposition to a plate engaging the face of .the wall and thereby eliminate the necessity of hunting or tapping to locate a stud within a wall, or other solid anchorage for the bracket.

A still further object of the invention is to produce a box that may be used in combination with any of the usual outside or partition walls, such as plastered walls on wood, metal or rock type lathing, and on plywood, fiber board, Beaverboard and similar materials. The box may also be used in tile, cement block, cinder block or double brick walls without having to be cemented into place.

Another object of the invention is to produce a construction that may be readily manufactured from suitable materials other than metal, such as plastics, Bakelite or other materials.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a face view of a wall fragment with the outlet box of the invention in operative position.

Figure 2 shows the wall in horizontal section and the box inserted with its clamp arms in retracted or non-clamping position.

Figure 3 is a View similar to Figure 2, but shows the clamp arms in expanded or clamping position.

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail to more clearly illustrate the clamping mechanism.

In the said drawing, where like reference characters identify corresponding parts in all of the gures, l is a face plate and 2 the outlet box. These parts may be made integral or as separate units, if desired. The face plate I may vary in size or shape according to the need or desire, but must be of suicient size to act as a reinforcement for the outer face of the wall when the box has been installed in position. The box 2 may be of regulation or special size and may or may not be provided with loom clamps (not shown), or any usual or special type of fixture engaging elements (not shown).

A pair of clamp arms 4 of generally T-shape,

are hinged at 4a to opposite sides of the box 2. Each of the arms 4 is formed with an opening 4b and journaled in bearings 5 carried by the arms l are pintles E projecting from lock plates or nuts 1, the arrangement being such that the lock plates or nuts can swing from positions perpendicular to the arms 4 (Figure 2) to positions paralleling said arms (Figure '3). The cross-heads of the T-shaped arms ll are or" greater length that the length of the box 2, and they, therefore, widely span the back of the wall sec.- tion beyond the hole cut therein to accommodate the unit.

1 Each side of the `box 2 has a ared or -belled section l8 formed with a slot to receive a bolt 9. The bolt 9 projects perpendicular to and yis threaded through an opening tapped in the lock plate or nut 'l as it swings on its pintles in positioning the arms 4 in clamping or retracted positions upon rotation of said bolts by engagement with a screw driver or the like projected into the open face of the box.

Thus, when the unit is assembled, the bolts 9 are in retracted position as shown in Figure 2, which positions the arms 4 perpendicular to the back of the box and to the face plate l and parallel to the sides of the box 2. The hole in the wall surface needs only to be large enough to receive the box 2 with its flared or bell portions3, the T-heads of said arms being angularly manipulated or threaded through said wall opening.

To install the unit the cross-heads of the retracted arms 4 are inserted in the hole in the wall and the bolts 9 are tightened enough to spread the arms li to a position nearly paralleling the face plate I. In this loose position the arms 4 act as hooks to prevent the unit from falling as the operator threads the loom and per- :forms any other necessary assembly operations. The unit may then be litted to correct position in the wall hole and the bolts 9 may be tightened to the extent that the cross-heads of the arms 4 are brought rm'ly against the back or inside face of the wall to clamp the unit in iinal position in opposition to the pressure of its face plate l.

By reference to Figures 2 and 3, it will be noted that as the lock plates or nuts are caused to travel forward on the bolts by manual turning of the latter (from force applied within the box), the lock plates or nuts cause the clamp arms to swing more rapidly than the lock plates or nuts move on the bolts, and as a result, the lock plates or nuts while actually moving in the same general direction as the clamp arms, will relatively swing in the opposite direction and through the openings 4b, until, as the clamp arms attain a position about paralleling the side Walls of the box, the plates or nuts attain a position at right angles to the clamp arms, as shown by Figure 2. In the reverse action effected by reverse turning of the bolts, the swing of the clamp arms cause the lock plates or nuts to pass back through the openings 4b, and to lie wholly at the outer or upper sides of the clamp arms, as the latter attain clamping positions relative to the inner face of the wall.

The face plate l is flush with the outside surface of the -box 2 and is of sufficient size to completely cover the hole in the wall and to actas an outside reinforcement. The face plate also acts as a protector against finger marks or smudges on the wall surface, but it does not take the place of the small conventional face plate (not shown) which ts directly over the box after installation of a switch or other electrical mechanism to hide the box and the operative mechanism.

From the above description and drawing, it will be evident that I have produced a construction embodying all of the features of advantage set forth as desirable, and while I have described and illustrated the preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that I reserve the right to all changes Within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An outlet box open at the front end and provided at such end with a face plate constituting flanges exterior to the box for fitting flat- Cil ly against a wall through which the box is tted, and also provided with bells on and at the opposite side walls of the box and accessible through the open end thereof, the bells having slots ex tending transversely of the box; a pair of clamp arms hinged to opposite sides of the box for respectively swinging toward and from the said face plate and provided with openings; lock plates or nuts hinged to the clamp arms on axes which traverse the openings of said clamp arms, and adapted for swinging from one side of and through said openings to positions approximately at right angles to the clamp arms, and headed bolts extending through the slots of the bells, the openings of the clamp arms when the latter are in clamping position, and threaded through the said plates or nuts: the heads of the bolts abutting the inner sides of the slotted walls of the bells.

2. A rectangular outlet box having a pair of clamp arms at opposite sides of and hinged to the box, and provided with openings at intermediate points, plates or nuts hinged to the clamp arms on axes which traverse the said openings of the said clamp arms and adapted for swinging from positions approximately parallel with corresponding sides of the clamp arms through the said openings of the latter to positions approximately at right angles to said clamp arms, and means accessible within and swingable relative to the box for effecting travel of the said plates or nuts for swinging the clamp plates to clamping or unclamping positions.

EBEN L. SCOTT. 

